Revision as of 20:51, 15 January 2013

Hawkins County, Tennessee genealogy and family history research page. Guide to Hawkins County (established 1786) genealogy, history, and courthouse sources including birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, wills, deeds and land records, Civil War records, Revolutionary War records, family histories, cemeteries, churches, tax records, newspapers, and obituaries.

The land of Hawkins County was first organized by the State of Franklin in March 1786 from parts of Sullivan and Greene counties under the name Spencer County.[4] It seems to have included at least the present area of Hawkins County. However, the Franklin statehood effort collapsed by 1789. Spencer county existed only briefly, its legality is questionable, and little trace remains.

The research of René Jordan shows that a small segment of present-day Hawkins County was inhabited by people who considered themselves Virginians, not North Carolinians. Their wills and other records can be found in Washington County, Virginia.

Later in 1786 the North Carolina legislature reconstituted a parallel-county of Franklin's Spencer County and called it Hawkins County. It was known by both county names while Frankln's statehood efforts lasted.[5]Now the land on which the lost county of Spencer County was located is known as Hawkins County, Tennessee. By the time of the 1790 census of the Southwest Territory (proto-Tennessee), the County of Hawkins also included parts of modern Claiborne, Hancock, Union, Grainger, Hamblen, Anderson, Knox, Jefferson, Roane, and Loudon counties.[6]

Early boundaries of Hawkins County, as researched by René Jordan, extended from the Virginia border to the Georgia border, overlapping lands released by applicable treaties. (Seemap and timetable at TNGenWeb site.)

In 1796 the land of Hawkins County (formerly Spencer County) became part of the new State of Tennessee. This area is where many Melungeons are believed to have settled. The Melungeon page identifies surnames believed to be associated with this group.

Parent County

1786--Hawkins County was created 18 November 1786 from parts of Sullivan County, and Greene County.County seat: Rogersville[7]

Timelines

A timeline of events in Hawkins County, Tennessee before 1790 is found on page 48, Vol 21 No 2 (Apr 2004) of Distant Crossroads, the quarterly publication of Hawkins County (TN) Genealogical and Historical Society. (FHL US/CAN Book 976.895 B2d)

Neighboring Counties

Resources

Getting Started

Use the free Search for Surnames at Mountain Press's website to quickly search a variety of published Hawkins County biography, cemetery, court, and tax records. To determine which books are being searched, or to search each publication's index individually, click here. You are now equipped with a checklist of books to pull off the shelves at a genealogy library, or a wish list for your personal book collection.

Census

1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal population censuses of Hawkins County are available online. For tips on accessing census records online, see Tennessee Census. If you're having trouble finding your ancestors in online indexes, try checking printed indexes. Created by local experts familiar with the area's families, these indexes are often transcribed more accurately than nationwide online indexes.

1790- Lost, only statistics survive[10], but substitutes are available:

Eakle, Arlene. Tennessee Research. 2010. Purchase information at Arlene Eakle's Tennessee Genealogy Blog. [Includes a reconstructed 1790 census, sources: "Contemporary lists–tax lists, militia rolls, land grants and deeds, claims for pre-emption lands, names recorded in diaries and journals. And numerous histories compiled by local historians from records that we have not seen or read ourselves."]

Reed, Sue S. Enumeration of Male Inhabitants of Twenty-one Years of Age and Upward, Citizens of Tennessee, January 1, 1891, as Provided for by an Act of General Assembly of Tennessee, Passed January 15, 1891, and Approved January 22, 1891. 8 vols. Houston, Texas: S.S. Reed, 1989. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 X2r v. 7 1891. [Hawkins County is included in Vol. 7.]

Church

BAPTISTS

The memberships records for Richardson Creek Missionary Baptist Church (near Byrd Creek, Tate Cem, and Chestnut Grove) for 1847-1857, 1874-1875 are transcribed on page 52 of the Jan 1998 edition of Distant Crossroads, the quarterly publication of the Hawkins County (TN) Genealogical and Historical Society.

METHODISTS

Carter Valley - A list of those promising to pay for the securing of ground and building of a parsonage house for the Carter Valley Circuit is found on page 75, Vol 19, No. 3 of Distant Crossroads, the quarterly publication of the Hawkins County (TN) Genealogical and Historical Society, 2002.

Court

Genealogy

More than 75 genealogies have been published about Hawkins County, Tennessee Genealogies families. To view a list, visit Hawkins County, Tennessee Genealogies.

Gordon Aronhime (1911-1983) collected information on hundreds of Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee pioneers. His note cards, which reference more than 4,000 early settlers of the Holston-Clinch River area and East Tennessee (1770s-1790s), are held at the Library of Virginia. The cards have been digitized and made available online.[13]

Immigration

During the War of 1812, American officials reported finding a total of 9 British aliens, many of whom had families, living in Hawkins County.[14]

Land

Deeds

The original Hawkins County Deed Books are held at the Hawkins County Courthouse. The TSLA microfilmed Deed Books 1-39 (1787-1894) and General Indexes (1787-1906) in 1974. Copies of these films are also available at the Family History Library: FHL US/CAN Films 972798-972815.

The original Hawkins County land entries issued by North Carolina are kept at the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh. On their website, users can bring up a list of land entries issued in Hawkins County, both before andafter it became a part of the state of Tennessee. Years covered: 1778-1804.

Instructions:

Follow this link to conduct a "Call Number Search" using the MARS Catalog on their site.

Using the pull down window, change "Call Numbers starting" to "A MarsID matching."

Type 12.14.9 (Windows Vista users may need to include a period after the last digit, for example 12.14.9.) and click Search. This is the specific MarsID for Hawkins County.

Click on the entry that is returned: "Tennessee, Hawkins County."

In the window that pops up, click Show List of Child Records and a list of Hawkins County land entries will be produced. Browse to find abstracts of the original records.[15]

N.B. You can also search by name through the Basic Search, but it lacks soundex capabilities.

Land Entries

The organization Strictly By Name provides free online indexes to early Hawkins County land records. They offer a research service to photocopy and transcribe microfilm copies of the original documents for a small fee. Available indexes:

The original Hawkins County Land Grant Books are held at the Hawkins County Archival Project in Rogersville, Tenn. The Genealogical Society of Utah microfilmed Land Grant Books 1-2 (1784-1819) in 2007: FHL US/CAN Film 2421541 Items 1-2.

Law and Legislation

Tennessee State Library and Archives, Acts of Tennessee 1796-1850: Index to Names. January 25, 2005. [In addition to creating new laws, legislative acts were often required to obtain a divorce, grant legitimacy to a child, or for appointments to or grant payments for public service.] The TSLA has created an index to names that appear in these acts covering the years 1796 to 1850. To read more about this valuable resource Click here. The searchable index is available at the TSLA; another version is available at World Vital Records.

Local Histories

Maps

[1786] Reeves, Charles A. Hawkins & Sumner Counties [Tennessee] - Created in 1786. Published 2000. Purchase at ReevesMaps.com; website includes a scaled-down version of the map.

[1790] Reeves, Charles A. Hawkins County, Territory of Tennessee, County Bounds as they existed in 1790. Published 1998, based on an earlier map of unknown provenance. Purchase at ReevesMaps.com; website includes a scaled-down version of the map.

Military

Revolutionary War

The following Hawkins County Revolutionary War records are available online through TNGenWeb:

Civil War service men from Hawkins County served in various regiments. Men often joined a regiment or a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are the military units that were formed in or had many men from Hawkins County.

Newspapers

Many Tennessee newspapers are filmed and available at TSLA. Most of these newspapers may be accessed by interlibrary loan to libraries within Tennessee, although there are some newspapers which are not available in or outside of Tennessee. For further information regarding interlibrary loan policies and newspapers not available for interlibrary loan click here. For a list of newspapers available at the archives for Hawkins County click on the following cities or towns:

Periodicals

Tap into the minds of local experts. Editors of genealogical periodicals publish unique sources that researchers who are new to their area would not likely discover. This type of material may be found in local, regional, or statewide genealogical society journals. The following periodicals cover this county:

Ansearchin' News

Genealogical articles with abstracts of Hawkins County, Tennessee Genealogies records have been published in Ansearchin' News, the quarterly magazine of the Tennessee Genealogical Society. To view a list of these articles, visit their county index. To read digitized versions of the first 36 years of articles (Vols. 1-36), browse their archive or conduct a surname search. The Family History Library has a complete collection of the Ansearchin' News quarterly FHL Book 976.8 B2a.

Distant Crossroads

Family History Library has Volumes 1 (1983) to present FHL US/CAN Book 976.895 B2d.Indexed in PERiodical Source Index (PERSI).For further information see Web page: http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnhcghs.For indexes for back issues of Distant Crossroads(1997 - present) click here.For index of surnames in Distant Crossroads (1998 - 2008) and index of surnames in Families of Hawkins County, Tennessee 1786 - 1999 click here.For a digital version of Distant Crossroads Volumes 23 and 24 at Family History Archives.

East Tennessee Roots

Several genealogical articles with abstracts of Hawkins County, Tennessee Genealogies records have been published in East Tennessee Roots (10 vols.). A subject index to these articles is available online. Surname indexes to Volumes 9 and 10 are also available online. The Family History Library has collected most issues of East Tennessee RootsFHL Book 976.8 D25e.

Watauga Association of Genealogists Bulletin

Genealogical articles with abstracts of Hawkins County, Tennessee Genealogies records have been published in the Watauga Association of Genealogists Bulletin (39+ vols., 1972-present), the journal of the Watauga Association of Genealogists. The organization has posted tables of contents for most volumes on their website. Back issues are available for purchase. The Family History Library has a complete collection FHL US/CAN Books 976.897 B2w, including Margaret W. Hougland and Betty Jane Hylton's Bulletin Subject Index: The First Thirty Years, 1972-2001 (Johnson City, Tenn.: Watauga Association of Genealogists, 2002) FHL Book 976.897 B2w index 1972-2001.

Prisons

Learn if your Hawkins County, Tennessee Genealogies ancestors went to prison!

FamilySearch has placed scans of the following records online in the Tennessee, Probate Court Books, 1795-1927 collection. These are browse-only collections. Handwritten indexes may be found at the front or back of some volumes:

Wills, 1797-1910 (4 vols.)

Bonds, Letters, 1879-1918 (4 vols.)

Court records, 1911-1920

Index to Chancery court, 1811-1820

Insolvent estate records, 1875-1972 (2 vols.)

Settlements, 1865-1904 (3 vols.)

The organization Strictly By Name provides free online indexes to early Hawkins County probate records. They offer a research service to photocopy and transcribe microfilm copies of the original documents for a small fee. Available indexes:

The following Hawkins County probate records have been abstracted and/or indexed:

[1786-1864] Eugenia Lauderdale Messick's book Hawkins County, Tennessee Wills, 1786-1864 (FHL US/CAN Book 976.895 P2m Vol 1) contains complete TRANSCRIPTIONS of the surviving wills that were copied by the County Court Clerk sometime after the Civil War, as the original will books of Hawkins County, Tennessee were destroyed by fire in 1863. The every name index makes her book a powerful starting point in researching the wills of Hawkins County, Tennessee.

Societies and Libraries

H. B. Stamps Library407 East Main Street Rogersville, TN 37857A guide to the Genealogy Room at the H. B. Stamp Library is found on pages 76-77, Vol 19 No 3 (2003) of Distant Crossroads, the quarterly publication of the Hawkins County (TN) Genealogical and Historical Society.